By James Ratliff
Corsicana Daily Sun
WORTHAM — —
The Wortham Bulldogs earned a trip to the postseason Friday night with a convincing 49-12 victory over Dawson in front of the home crowd at Bulldog Stadium.
Wortham (4-6, 2-2) racked up 28 points in the fourth quarter to put an end to what had been a back and forth slug-fest through the first three periods.
Dawson (0-10, 0-4) had an answer for almost everything the home team threw at it in the first half.
The visitors ended Wortham’s first possession as Dawson defensive back Brandon Cehand intercepted a Brandon Campbell pass over the middle near midfield with just over 10 minutes still showing on the first quarter clock. The ensuing drive ended with a punt.
Wortham drew first blood less than a minute into the second stanza on a 1-yard run by Skylar Jordan, set up by a 14-yard pass to Witty Busby from Campbell on the previous play.
Dawson ate away the all but the last 2:54 of the second quarter on its next drive, answering with a 3-yard plunge into the end zone by running back Ian Norwood. Unfortunately for the guests, Campbell retaliated with an 86-yard return touchdown on the kickoff that followed, setting the home team up with a 14-6 lead they would take to intermission.
The Bulldogs in black and gold brought the game to within two points on another Norwood run halfway through the third quarter, capping a drive aided by two Wortham personal-foul penalties.
Leading 21-12 with 12 minutes to play, the hosts erupted with a scoring frenzy. Just over a minute into the final period, Campbell hit Brysen Rhodes for a 66-yard touchdown pass that seemed to take the wind out of the Dawson sails.
The visitors fumbled on the second play of their next drive, but forced a turnover of their own immediately as freshman defensive back Lane Dotson snatched a Wortham pass out of the air in the end zone for a touchback.
A punt put the ball back in the hands of the blue and white Bulldogs, and Campbell went to work again, finding Rhodes for a 72-yard gain through the air that set the home team up inside the opponents’ five yard line. It took two plays to send the score to 35-12.
Wortham recorded a pair of interceptions in the final six minutes of play to eliminate Dawson’s last-ditch efforts at a comeback.
Campbell finished the as the game’s leading rusher with 95 yards on the ground. Wortham’s quarterback also tallied 213 yards on 11 completions.
Wortham 49, Dawson 12
Dawson 0 6 6 0 — 12
Wortham 0 14 7 28 — 49
Second Quarter
W — Skylar Jordan 1 run (Kyle Goerner run), 11:05
D — Ian Norwood 3 3un (pass failed), 2:54
W — Brandon Campbell 86 kick return (kick failed)
Third Quarter
D — Norwood 4 run (run failed), 6:20
W — Campbell 16 run (Campbell kick), 1:28
Fourth Quarter
W — Brysen Rhodes 66 pass from Campbell (Campbell kick), 10:41
W — Campbell 3 run (Campbell kick), 6:22
W — Tyvon Freeman 6 pass from Campbell (Campbell kick), 5:02
W — Freeman 2 run (Campbell kick), 2:15
D W
First downs 7 13
Rush-yards 46-122 24-144
Passing yards 18 213
C-A-I 3-14-2 11-20-2
Fumbles-lost 4--2 1-0
Punts-avg. 5-41.2 2-26.5
Penalties-yards 6-55 12-105
Individual
Rushing — D: Norwood 17-30, Lane Dotson 5-28, Ty Skinner 11-25, Alex Ruiz 3-19, Jake Strother 1-12, Brent Massey 3-6, Brandon Cehand 6-2. W: Campbell 11-95, Freeman 11-47, Jordan 1-1, Goerner 1-1.
Passing — D: Cehand 3-14-2-18. W: Campbell 11-20-2-213.
Receiving — D: Marvin Manning 3-18. W: Rhodes 3-115, Witty Busby 2-19, Freeman 2-17, Michael Anderson 1-25, Chris Lee 1-14, Goerner 1-13, Micah McCord 1-10.
